Ep.209 – How To Kill Time: Gunpei Yokoi and the Story of Nintendo’s Game & Watch

In 1980, Nintendo released Game & Watch, a handheld series that transformed how people passed the time and set the stage for portable gaming. In this episode, we trace Gunpei Yokoi’s unlikely path from factory engineer to one of Nintendo’s most influential inventors. We explore how a bored businessman on a bullet train sparked an idea, how a collaboration with Sharp made it possible, and how these simple LCD devices laid the groundwork for the Game Boy and beyond. Our discussion covers the evolution from Ball to Donkey Kong, the invention of the D-Pad, and the worldwide success that put Nintendo in millions of hands. Join us as we wind back the clock and juggle through the legacy of Game & Watch on today’s trip down Memory Card Lane.